Former officer texted photo of Tire Nichols to others

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – One of the former fired police officers charged in the Tire Nichols beating allegedly took a photo of Nichols lying on the street and sent it to six other people, including an acquaintance, according to documents obtained. by WREG.

The Memphis Police Department submitted documents to a state board to have the five former officers – Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean – decertified. All five also face charges of second degree murder.

In Demetrius Haley’s documents, the records note:

“On your personal cell phone, you took two photos as you stood in front of the obviously injured subject after he was handcuffed. In your Garrity statement, you admitted to sharing the photo in a text message with five (5 ) people; a civilian employee, two MPD agents and a female acquaintance.

The documents also say Haley passed the photo on to a sixth person, in violation of police policy.

On January 7, several MPD officers arrested Tire Nichols, 29, during a traffic stop in the Hickory Hill neighborhood. He ran to his parents’ house, which resulted in a second encounter with the police.

Video evidence shows officers kicking, punching and spraying Nichols before he was dragged to the sidewalk and braced against a patrol car until medical help arrived.

At one point, an officer can be seen leaning over Nichols and using his cell phone to take a photo.

The documents say Desmond Mills spoke with Nichols’ mother the night of the incident, but he and the supervisor ‘did not obtain contact information or refused to provide an accurate account of his son’s encounter with police or his condition”.

They also state that Smith and Haley failed to turn on their body cameras and that Martin, Bean and Mills removed their body cameras and placed them on nearby cars.

The five officers were added to the county’s Giglio list, a list maintained by the district attorney of compromised officers.